1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to devices used to restrain infants, specifically to such devices that comfort sleeping infants by providing continual gentle pressure to the torso and subtle restraint to the arms.
2. Description of Prior Art
Infants have a reflex often referred to as the "Moro" or "startle" reflex that begins at birth and can continue until 6 months of age. This reflex is characterized by a sudden extension of the infant's arms and stiffening of the body--the infant appears to be falling. Infants are unlikely to startle when cradled and restrained in parents' arms; startling occurs more frequently when the infant is placed on a firm surface (e.g., a bed, the floor, or a couch). Because infants must spend long stretches of time sleeping on such surfaces, infant startling can disturb sleep. In addition, physicians currently recommend that babies be put to sleep on their backs to reduce the risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome; this position tends to give infants an even weaker sense of security, thus creating conditions conducive for infant startling.
Traditionally, parents have "swaddled" infants to provide them with a sense of security by wrapping them tightly in a blanket. This method, while effective in providing comfort, can be much too restraining (especially in warm climates); older infants as well as many newborns are averse to being swaddled.
The prior art that I have uncovered has followed two different veins: a) electronic comforting devices and b) pillows that provide support to infants. The first type of comforting device--those that are electronic--is reflected in two patents. U.S. Pat. No. 3,809,065, issued in 1974 to Gatts, reveals an "infant environmental transition system." This system may be comforting to infants; however, it is highly complex and involves electronics, thus rendering the system expensive to manufacture and cumbersome for parents to operate. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,869, issued in 1990 to Cohen, is called a "sleep promoting and/or pacification apparatus." This invention also is electronic and thus adds expense for the consumer. This invention does not provide any type of restraint for the infant.
The second type of comforting device is referred to as a support pillow in most of the related patents. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,272,780 (Clute, 1993), 5,581,832 (Bridley, 1996), and 5,499,418 (Tan, 1996) all disclose some device that provides infant support and comfort. However, all of these inventions involve a device that infants must lay on top of--not inventions that lay on top of the infant. Although these devices may comfort sleeping infants, the caregiver must be prepared to use such a device before placing an infant down to sleep. In other words, if the device weren't in a handy location, the caregiver would be forced to either retrieve the device and delay putting the infant down or forgo use of the device altogether. Also, these infant support devices are all designed specifically to accommodate side-sleeping infants. An infant sleeping on her back would not be comforted by this device. However, pediatricians currently recommend putting babies to sleep on their backs--side-sleeping is no longer acceptable because of the risk for suffocation if the newborn were to roll over on to the stomach.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,272,780 also does not specifically restrain the arms. The patent states that the infant's arms can "extend out one open end of the channel." Subtle restraint to the arms may provide an increased sense of security. None of the previously mentioned patents address the problem of infant waking caused by the startle reflex.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,358 issued to Glass in 1985 discloses a "bean bag body support." This support is comprised of a bean-bag--like structure and a fastener means for reducing the size of the bean bag. The purpose of this support is to provide comfort to dental patients while lying in a dental chair. The bag is not intended or suited for comforting a sleeping infant. It lacks any type of attaching means for securing the bag to other objects.